About

Dock Rd. Looking North to Hilton's Store c. 1910. The village blacksmith shop (now gone) is the building in the foreground on the right. This photo post card is from Eastern Publishing Co. whose collection of glass negatives is now housed at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

Alna History

Archeologists have discovered settlement along the SheepscotRiver that pre-dates the 1620 Plymouth Colony. There are writtenrecords of a settlement near the present Sheepscot Village fromthe mid 1600s. These early settlements did not last, beingsubject to Indian attacks and nature's challenges. Permanentsettlement of the area now known as Alna dates from 1758, after the end of the French and Indian Wars.

In 1760 Masachusetts established Lincoln County andincorporated; Pownalborough, which included the present-daytowns of Wiscasset, Alna, and Dresden, as well Swan Island.Families from Massachusetts and New Hampshire settled what wasthen a fontier. The 1766 census of Pownalborough counted 114families, 39 framed houses and 61 log houses.

Well into the 19th century, rivers were both the primarymeans of transportation and powered industry. Grain andsaw mills were established along the Sheepscot River at HeadTide, Puddle Dock and Sheepscot Village. Virgin forests providedtimber, primarily for shipbuilding. Before the Revolution alltrees over 24 inches in diameter were marked with the King's Arrow,designatingthem as masts for the Royal Navy. The original mastsfor the USS Constitution were floated from Puddle Dock to Wiscassetin 1797 andthen towed to Boston.

After the Revolutionary War, Alna prospered and expanded.In 1794 the North precint of Pownalborough slpit off andbecame New Milford. In 1811 the name was changed to Alna fromthe Latin "alnus" for the alder trees that grow abundantly in town.During the 1800s Alna shipyards built 103 schooners, brigs anda fully rigged 1194 ton vessel, named the King Phillip. Ships were floated to Wiscasset, the deepest harbor north of Boston.

While farming remained the primary occuption, tanneries, taverns, stores and other small businesses were established. The firstmeeting house was constructed in 1789 and schools were built.

In 1820 Alna's population was 1200.

In 1895 the Wiscasset and Quebec Railway initiated narrowgauge railroad service through Alna. Until 1933 the littletrain shuttled mail, passengers, livestock and produce betweenWiscasset and the state's interior. Apples grown on Head Tide Hillwere said to be harvested and shipped on a Monday and sold inBoston on Tuesday, with the profits back in Alna by Wednesday.

In 1989 a Narrow Gauge Museum was established at the site of theold Sheepscot Station. One of the original engines now travels2.2 miles of track on weekends.

This historical detail is provided from, "a Brief History of Old Alna"written by Nell Walker in 1970.